Changes
by Junebert
Summary: Skylar has taken a notice to Alex, a new boy at camp. What happens when horrible things start happening at camp, and no one has an idea about what's going on.
1. Rambling

Skylar's POV

My alarm sounded, but I was already up. By hearing screaming, and yelling, and cussing coming from the Ares cabin. Oh, what an ordinary day. I wanted just one more minute of piece before breakfast, so I slammed the window, the only one open, shut. I was still under the covers of my bed.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking, "Oh my God she's a wizard!" Well you're wrong. I am a demigod. Daughter of Boreas. At Camp-Halfblood. Yeah, you've read the other stories right? So I don't need to explain everything. Perfect.

After a few minutes I went over to my dresser and grabbed an orange camp shirt and my white jean shorts. I put on the shirt, but quickly exchanged the white shorts for blue. The white wasn't going to stay white for long.

I do a quick brush through of my long, blonde hair, check myself in the mirror to do a once over. _You could look worse_. I think silently, slip on my flip flops and start off to the dining pavilion.

On my way I run into Stenfani, my friend, who actually gets me, unlike the rest of the losers around here. I mean seriously. The kids from the Big Three are total snobs or know it alls, sometimes outcasts. And the kids from Ares…well…don't get me started. Then there's my friends and me. Melodie, then there's Katie, Yuma, and Stefani. We're the normal ones, the people who aren't totally freakish, and, as people say around here, 'heroes' or girlies. We are just people that are half god!

"What's wrong?" I ask Stefani as soon as I see her face. Only it's more of a demand than I real question.

She looks at me giving the look that says _you really don't want to know. _But I nod, telling her she has to tell me.

"I'm fine! I just didn't get much sleep last night." I knew that wasn't the whole story, but I didn't want to push it, considering she had her headband on, which was her weapon (In disguise) and she was in an irritable mood. Not good for arguing.

We make it to breakfast, and I go up to get some while she hangs back and talks with Melodie. I hadn't even noticed her. I grab a boat load of eggs and three pieces of French toast. Whenever they offer it, I take it. It _is_ my heritage.

I am forced to sit at my own empty table…but not before I toss in a few eggs for, this time, Apollo. For Stenfani's dad.

"I have an announcement to make!" Chiron shouted, and we all quieted down, even though I wasn't talking in the first place. "We have a new camper in our midst. Alex, would you care to join me up here?" Chiron generously asked.

Someone from the Hermes table stood up, my guess it's Alex, and walked up to Chiron. Luckily my table's closest to the front, where Chiron was standing.

"Hi," He said. "I'm Alex, and I have no idea who my parent is. Well…I know she's a girl because my dad was killed, and my mom wasn't with us, and he was killed when our house burned down and I was at school so I don't really know who she is because my dad never told me and I hope she claims me soon so I don't have to sleep on the floor off the cabin my whole life, I really want an important goddess as my mom—"Chiron pounded him on the back to get him to shut up. Great, a rambler. My money was on Athena.

"Thank you for that, interesting, run-on sentence, Alex. I'm sure you will get claimed any day now.

Alex went back to his seat on the overfilled Hermes table. While he was up there I noticed how beautiful his eyes were, and how he had this really cute smile when he was nervous. Oh, well it's not like there are any ugly boys here.

Once I finished breakfast I went over to September Marie, at the Persephone table, and asked her if she wanted to get started. September was my little trainee, if you want to call it that. She's twelve, and I help her with her sword work. It's actually really fun, because she's almost better than me. And I'm fifteen…

"Sure, just let me," She took the last bite of her French toast, "okay, let's go."

As I was walking out of the door with September, I couldn't help notice Alex Wood staring at me.


	2. Forbidden

Skylar's POV (again)

"Come on! Give me _some _challenge!" September mocked. She gave a quick laugh, but it wasn't quick enough, because I quickly disarmed her, not really being fair, considering my ability to control wind.

"Why haven't you taught me that yet?" She squealed. Sometimes I forgot she was twelve. This was not one of those times.

"What do you mean? It's impossible for you to do that." I inform her, careful to sound nice, not arrogant. She has been known to beat me when I do that.

"I could do something like this!" She quickly looked at a massive weed on the ground and looked at my sword, and the plant _grabbed_ it. Again, a normal day.

I looked at her with a huge grin, marveling at her amazing powers. "Where did you learn that?"

"Oh…Dean said I should probably have plant-ish sort of powers, so he had me experiment. I learned I could control plants and weather! It's awesome." She said excitedly.

"Dean…." I tried to remember a Dean, but nothing came to mind. "Who?"

She looked at me like I was dumb. "He's the councilor of the Demeter cabin. He's really nice." Oh! Dean…I remember him. He helped me find the girls' bathroom one the first day. Not my brightest moment, asking a guy to direct me. Hey, I was still in shock, and, he looked nice. He was a total gentleman about it, though.

"Is that it for today, then?" September asked, eagerly looking behind me. I turned around to see Maggie Partridge, September Marie's best friend.

"Yeah, I have to go talk to Stefani." I told her. She ran away to Maggie. What I really wanted to say is, 'I'm going to go levitate Stenfani's headband away and drill her about last night.' There was definitely something she wasn't telling me.

I was about to go to the archery range, to find Stenfani, but I was suddenly stopped in my tracks. Alex Wood was talking to his fellow Hermes cabin mates, but his eyes were focused on me. _Me,_ I suddenly am out of breath, and a breeze rustles my hair. God, why was I so nervous?

He all of a sudden looks away, frustrated. I pretend nothing happened, and finally leave to get Stefani after collecting myself.

LINE BREAK

"Where do you think you're going?" Yuma asked as I was almost to archery range. She must've been looking for Alex. I saw her checking him out at lunch, from her table close enough to get an eyeful.

"To find Stenfani. There's something wrong. I need to talk to her." I saw Yuma's eyes flash, thinking about how my objective was way better than hers. More caring and friendly. What Yuma was.

"Well, that's where I was going, too." She lies, but that's fine. Yuma has her quirks, but is a good friend when I or someone else needs it.

I quickly spot Stef, with her unique silver bow. She saw us after we waved at her, and Yuma screamed "Stefani!"

She makes her way to us without getting shot by an arrow, and turns her bow and arrow into her silver headband. Right after, I levitate her headband into my hands.

"What the heck?" She asks with a sour face.

"We need to talk. Now." Yuma answers while grabbing Stefani's left arm and I quickly follow suit, and grab her right.

"What is this about?" She was nervous. Oh God. This was worse than I thought.

We bring her all the way to my cabin. For the first time in awhile I was happy I didn't have any half-siblings.

We sit of my bed, and I curl up around a pillow.

"What's this about?" Stef asks, eying each of us equally. She was afraid to admit anything.

Yuma pointed at me, and I started to explain. "What happened last night? You were passing on the subject this morning, and we need to talk about it."

"Nothing happened, I just didn't sleep well." She insists, rubbing her neck. I watched enough cop shows to know that meant you were lying.

"I believe the second part, just not the first. What happened? Do I need to go get Mike?"

"No!" She cried. Mike Jules has been Stefani's crush ever since she was 9. It was the cutest thing you'd ever see. "I'll tell you…" She grumbled.

We were waiting expectantly, letting her decide how to tell the story.

"So, last night I couldn't fall asleep. I just couldn't. I kept picturing things in the dark. So I kept looking towards the window for moonlight. I saw something go by the window, and I freaked out. I screamed and woke up everyone in the cabin. Justin went out to see what it was, and everyone kept asking me what it was. I wasn't sure.

"I heard talking and saw Justin come in, followed by a boy. Our age, really cute, and extravagant eyes. I didn't know him and had never seen him. It was obvious he was a halfblood."

I immediately knew who it was. "Alex." I said, out loud. Crap.

"How'd you know that?" Stefani asked fiercely. Yuma looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"The eyes." I lie. No one sees through it, and I silently heave a sign of relief.

LINE BREAK

Melodie, Stefani, and I were walking to dinner when we saw a crowd near the dining pavilion. We rushed over. I thought it was another fight between some Ares kids, but I was wrong. Alex was crumpled on the ground, convulsing.

"I'm going to get Chiron." Yuma told me as soon as she saw what was going on, and raced off. I managed to get to the front of the crowd, and right as Chiron and Yuma showed up, Alex stood up, and whispered one single word before collapsing.

"_Hera_" He said.


	3. Crappy Characters

Author's Note: There is a very sarcastic remark in this chapter that Skylar says about the characters. It does not express my views. Just wanted to say that so people don't get pissed.

Skylar's POV

"Oh my Gods." I say, breaking the silence.

"What just happened?" Melodie asked, astonished at what had taken place less than a full minute ago.

"I believe that Alex has just been claimed by Hera." Chiron said, stating the obvious.

"But isn't Hera a maiden goddess, forbidden to have a child?" Blair Athan Nicole, the councilor of Hypnos cabin, though there were only three children in it, asked.

"Blair, I think you know that that is true." Chiron complimented. Blair smiled sweetly.

Alex got up suddenly. "What are you guys looking at?" He asked defensively. He was so…cute.

"You just got claimed." Matthew Ross, obviously one of Alex's friends, since they were staying in the same cabin. Of course, Alex's stay was only temporary.

"Really? Who's my mom?" He asks excitedly. His brown hair whipped back and forth, looking for someone to answer. I saw some strands of gold in it.

No one answered, everyone was nervous. Chiron finally figured out how to phrase it.

"You are very unique, Alex." He paused for a moment, figuring that every way you could say it was equally shocking. "Your mother is Hera, the goddess of the home and family." Alex looked, well, shocked.

"Wait, you're saying that my mother is Hera, and I am her son?" Alex asked, unbelieving. "That's impossible. She's not supposed to have kids. And, she's married to Zeus." He shook his head.

"Well, now we see that it is possible. How about you stay in the Hera cabin from now on, and we'll discuss this after dinner." Chiron suggested.

"Sure," Alex muttered, and walked towards the dining pavilion. We all followed. I was still processing this. A child of Hera? What were his powers supposed to be? Turning into a peacock?

I was at the front of the crowd, a few steps behind Alex, and, of course, of all times to trip, my feet had some sort of telepathic conversation. _Hey, come here_, the left said to the right. _Okay!_ The right responded, and all of a sudden I have a mouthful of grass. The one time I trip is when I get trampled.

"Hello?' I screamed. I made the wind blow them all in the face so they backed away.

"Seriously? Walking on me? I might not be the most popular girl around here," the Aphrodite girls had that one locked up, "but that doesn't mean you can walk all over me!" I say sarcastically.

I was about to get up, but a hand grabbed mine, and helped me up.

"Thanks," I say, then look up to see Alex, letting go of my hand.

"No problem," He looked at me in that same way he looked at me in the practice fields. I break the stare this time, walking over to Melodie, watching, while everyone else was already eating.

"What was that?" She asked, practically screaming at me. Melodie was a daughter of Hecate, goddess of magic, and something else with streets. Minor gods weren't my expertise.

"What was what?" I ask, honestly asking, not playing dumb.

"You like him." She accuses. Ugh. Was it that obvious? "Yeah, it's hard to miss it." She answers my question for me, though I didn't voice it aloud.

"I don't even know him! I don't think you can like someone after hearing them talk in the pavilion like they don't know punctuation." I say defensively.

"There is also this really special thing called 'love at first sight' that happens a lot in movies and books." Melodie explains, talking to me like I'm a two year old. Not the first time today someone has done that.

"Yeah, but we're not in a stupid movie or book. If we were, it would have really crappy and ugly characters. And no plot whatsoever." I joke. Melodie giggles.

"Let's go eat." She says, and we walk towards the dining pavilion, and I'm thankful that our conversation about Alex is over, because I would have nothing to say. I wasn't sure of the subject myself.


	4. Peacock Boy

Authors Note: I am really proud of this chapter. I really like it, and think you will too. I had alot of fun writing it.

Skylar's POV

"I don't want to sing!" I shout, even though it's not worth it. Stef won't give up.

"Me neither," Melodie agrees, even though her name argues the subject for her.

"Well too bad!" Stefani closes the subject, and we don't argue, singing purposely off-key.

"Come on guys! Have some fun with it!"Yuma giggles, making faces while she's singing. Of course, Stefani is an Apollo kid, so she can sing better than any of us.

"I can't believe you're even out tonight, Stef." Katie said, looking smug, even though she hasn't won anything recently. She must be practicing. After all, she is the daughter of Nike, the goddess of victory.

"I'm not a baby!" Stefani insists. Stef has a fear of the night, but its Katie's favorite time of day.

I was surprised that Stefani was here, too. She rarely comes to the bonfires. Must have something to do with Mick Jules finally coming to it, too.

"Why are we here?" I ask, trying to get out of singing. It's just not my thing.

"Do have anything better in mind?" Stefani asks, challenging me.

"No, but there has to be _something_." I insist. Katie smiles at me and so doesYuma.

"We could play truth or dare!"Yuma suggests, and we all are bubble with excitement.

"Where would we go? What if Chiron finds us and asks what we're doing this late in each others cabins?" Stefani skeptically questions.

"We could go to my cabin!"Yuma answers. Yuma was the daughter of Clio, the muse of history. You might expect her to be boring and geeky, but she's actually awesome.

We all head of except for Stefani, who is staring at Mick. I wave for her to come, and she hesitantly gets up and follows me toYuma's cabin.

LINEBREAK

"Dare," Katie answers Stefani's question excitedly.

Stefani thinks for a minute, and then asks Melodie for help. Melodie eagerly whispers something into Stef's ear.

"I dare you to go up to Alex, who is at the bonfire, and say 'What's up, peacock boy?'! And, if he actually answers, no matter what it is, you have to say, 'No one can squawk to me like that', and come running back!" Stefani doubles over in laughter when she's done. I do exactly the same.

"Ok!" Katie says, always up for a challenge. She runs out of the cabin and we all follow her. When we get to the fire, we stay far enough away that we can still hear, but Alex can't see us.

Katie walks up to Alex, with her serious face on.

"What's up peacock boy?" She says in her hearty, hilarious trucker voice. We laugh quietly, though it's hard to be silent.

"What's up with you?" He asks, and we fall silent, waiting for Katie response.

"Nobody can squawk to me like that!" Katie runs away, until she's near us, and we get up and run with her.

"That was hysterical!"Yuma says once we get back to her cabin.

"Okay, now it's mine turn to pick someone." Katie tells us, and she eyes me. "You're the only one who hasn't gone yet, Skye." She says. "Skylar, truth or dare?" She asks. Ugh.

"Truth," I answer. I wasn't going to do something like what Katie just did. Everyone groans. I don't notice.

After a few seconds, everyone gathers into a huddle. I hear whispering, but have no idea what question will make me squirm.

They separate, and Yuma takes her place on my right, Katie on my left, Melodie next to her, and Stefani after, also next to Yuma.

"What do you think of Alex?" Katie asks. No doubt Melodie came up with this question.

I start to knot my fingers, and get nervous. "I…" I start, but I have no way of continuing. "I really like him." I say quietly, so low it's almost a whisper.

"Anymore details?"Yuma nudges me. I sigh, and start again.

"I guess, I don't know, he just seems, like, a nice guy, and he's really cute. He just, I don't know how to explain it!" I explain, sort of.

We hear some talking outside, but it was probably just people making their way back from the bonfire. Or they got really bored.

"He's just special, and I can't think straight when I'm around him, and he always stares at me." I say. It felt good to talk about it with my best friends.

"Oh my gods, that is so adorable!" Stefani exclaims.

"Not as adorable as your gigantic crush on Mick." Melodie giggles.

"Shut up." Stefani grumbles.

"I just really like him, for some odd reason." I finish off the discussion, but somebody didn't really get the message.

"Really?" The voice said, but none of my friends said it. They were all staring behind me, all with their mouths shaped like O's.

"What's wrong?" I ask them, and turn around to see who it was.

"Really?" Alex repeated.


	5. Hard to Get

Author's Note: Oh this is going to be interesting.

Skylar's POV (you know that already)

"Oh my gods." I say when I see _him_. Seriously? _Seriously?_

"So, you were saying," Alex prompted. Was he serious? He really wanted me to continue talking about him?

"Um, I think we should all get to bed." Katie suggested, saving me.

"Yeah," Stefani said, and we all left.

"What the heck?" I screamed when I thought Alex couldn't hear me anymore. "Why the heck would he be listening? Why did this happen to _me_? If it happened to Stef with Mick, it would be totally cool because it's obvious he likes her, too. But Alex? Ugh.

I go into my cabin and slam the door with the wind. I grab a green t shirt and some random pajama shorts, but them on, and lay down in my bed.

I think for awhile, mostly about Alex, and try to think about what I'll tell him tomorrow morning. What was going to happen? What was he gonna ask me about?

I fall asleep sometime awhile later. I wasn't watching the clock.

I woke up, instead of to a bunch of shouting, to silence. Oh, it must be Saturday. I quietly got out of bed and put on some light skinny jeans, and a t shirt saying 'My friends are like soup. We are all veggies and taste gross, but together, we're delicious' with a picture of a carrot, pumpkin, potato, onion, and cabbage hugging each other.

I walk outside, about to go wake up Yuma when a hand grabbed me from behind. I immediately touched my ring and it turned into my sword, Nebula, and swung around, ducking to anticipate a punch.

I glanced up to realize my 'attacker' was just Alex. I poke him with the butt of my sword obnoxiously.

"Hi," I say cautiously.

"So, you like me?" Wow. This guy gets to the point quickly.

"I guess." I sound really confident and brave when I say that. Huh. I was going for nervous. "So, why did you stare at me that one time? Oh yeah, and when I got trampled?"

"Um, I just, I don't know, um…" He squirmed. So I have to answer his questions but he doesn't have to address mine? Oh no, that wasn't happening.

"Answer the question." I instruct him.

"You were just really pretty, and you were so nice to that little girl, and you just seemed, well, perfect." He compliments me. I thought it would be something along the lines of 'You had a giant zit on you forehead and I was trying to watch for it to pop.' "I was kind of awestruck." I am blushing by now, and I am a little light headed. He said I was perfect, and he didn't even know me.

"Thanks," I breathe.

"Why do you like me?" He asks looking at me with an intensity I didn't know was possible. He was way taller than me, considering I'm 5'3 and pretty much everyone my age is taller than me. He must be at least 5'11.

"Because…" But I couldn't focus. "I don't know. There's just something about you that I like. I guess that's a good way to put it." I think for a few seconds before the next four words come out of my mouth. "Do you like me?" I instantly regret saying them once they are spoken.

"Well, duh." He says sarcastically. I heave a sigh of relief, and feel happy. "So, do you want to go somewhere sometime?" He asks me, and I can tell he's nervous.

"You're so descriptive." I joke, and I start walking towards the practice grounds, Alex following.

"Maybe we could go for a walk, or a picnic," I look at him and he smiles, "Okay, no picnic, maybe a walk then." He decides on.

"Well, I'm going to breakfast. I'll think it over." I walk away from him, his mouth open to suggest something else. Well then. I guess I'm playing hard to get.

LINEBREAK

"Stay on focus here, Melodie!" I scolded jokingly. We were playing Pictionary, and Melodie, Stefani, and I were losing by a lot. Katie and Yuma were beating us badly. Well, you should expect that, considering Katie can win anything.

I hadn't told them about Alex yet, but they were asking every chance they get. Whenever I would draw a person, or a heart, or something that could even begin to resemble a date they would both scream out 'Alex!'

It was annoying. Then, one time they screamed it loud enough that about thirty seconds later there was a knock at the door, and I answered it. When I first saw his face I told him he wasn't needed and slammed the door in his face.

Yup, definitely hard to get.


	6. Hair Clips and Curling Irons

Author's Note: Ohhh this chapter isn't as good as I would like it to be, but my grandparents came early so I had to finish later, and kind of got out of the state of mind I should've been in.

Skylar's POV (I need to stop saying that)

"Oh, definitely the blue one. With the white skinnies." Melodie confirmed.

"No, I think the white one with just the regular skinny jeans." Katie argued. I knew I shouldn't have told them about my 'date' (walk) with Alex. They were going to fret about every single detail.

"Guys! Come on! It's totally the yellow with the regular skinnies." Stefani decided on. I should've known she'd choose the yellow.

"Nope. The red shirt and white." Yuma says. Oh. Okay. So the daughter of Hecate wanted blue and white, the daughter of Nike wanted white and blue, the daughter of Apollo wanted yellow and blue, and the daughter of Clio wanted red and white.

"I think I'll go with green," I started to say, just to annoy them, and they all started to scream at me. They were too predictable.

"Come on! Red is totally your color!" Yuma pleaded.

"Well, I'm not wearing blue or red, because what if I fall into the grass and I get grass stains all over my butt?"Yumacrossed her arms and gave me a pouty look, and Melodie glared. Oh god. It probably wasn't a good idea to get a demigod who can use magic mad.

"And what if I fall on my back and get my shirt grassy and green and gross? A white shirt would totally give that away more than a yellow…or a green." I consider the remaining option.

"I am going to wear my green shirt and blue skinnies." I decide, and they all groan. They were disappointed at least one of them didn't win.

"Okay, makeup!" Melodie announced.

"I'm out." Katie got up and left. Makeup wasn't really her thing.

I got on my green, baggy, yet fitting (I have no idea how that works, it just does) and blue jeans. They all call me over, taking out my very small amount of makeup from my bathroom.

"Close your eyes." Yuma instructed. I shut them and I could only see darkness. I heard giggling and lots of 'Oh that's pretty's.

"Okay, smile." Stefani told me. I did, and knew they were applying blush. "Open your eyes." Stef says. I open and see my reflection from a mirror they took from the bathroom.

"Oh my gods, it's awesome." I turn my face examining the light highlights of my eyes, and cheeks, and see a slight glimmer to my face. "Is that glitter?" I ask, and Stefani nods.

"I got it from Rowan. I asked if she had any when I heard about your date with Alex. She had some and gave it to me." She explains.

"How do you want to do your hair?" Melodie asks, looking at my hair, probably getting an amazing idea in her head.

"You guys can do it." I say, all of a sudden becoming lazy. They smile excitedly and grab a curling iron and my brush and tell me to shut my eyes again. I hear whispering and discussing, but am surprised me I see my reflection.

All of my hair is down, and the ends, which are normally at my waist are at my ribcage, are curled. My hair kind of works its way down my body, eventually curling, looking like it does it on its own.

"You guys!" I squeal. We all give each other a hug. This was getting way too dramatic.

"Have fun!" Yuma says.

"I'm still disappointed you didn't pick the blue, but have fun anyway." Melodie tells me then leaves with Yuma. Stef just waves and runs after them.

I start to get nervous as soon as the door shuts. I barely knew Alex. How could I just go on a date with him when I don't even know him? I probably still had fifteen minutes or so. I grabbed some lip gloss and put it on. I wiped it off, and put on some lip balm instead. Much better.

Why had I even agreed to this? Joshua Christianson asked me out seven weeks ago and I had said no. I didn't like Joshua, but at least I knew some things about him. There was just something about Alex I couldn't put into words. He was just enchanting.

There was a knock at the door, and I took a deep breath and answered the door. _Here goes._ I think, but Yuma walks right in, taking me by surprise.

"Just one more thing. Alex might try to kiss you. Don't do it. You said you were trying to play hard to get, right? So be hard to get." She was pacing.

"There is some other reason you are here." I accuse. She looks at me, with her dark brown, almost black eyes, that look like they can see what you've been through. After all, her mother was the muse of history.

"Yeah. I just wanted to give you this. Not to keep, just to wear." She hands me a hair clip that is white and green. She leaves before I can thank her, but quickly put it in, realizing it is the most beautiful hair clip I have ever seen. It was beaded, and had interesting designs on it.

I hear a knock at the door, and assume it's Yuma again, so I open it, and am shocked to see Alex leaning against the doorframe.

"Ready to go?" He asks with a dazzling smile. I remember why I agreed to this. I remember it very clearly.

"Where exactly are we going?" I ask, still trying to remain brave and hard to get.

"I thought we could go for a walk." He repeated from before. That sounded so boring with anyone else, but with Alex it sounded amazing.

"Where are we walking?" I ask him with a taunting grin.

"Somewhere amazing." I give him a look of suspicion, "Don't you trust me?" He taunts me this time.

I want to say, 'I'll follow you anywhere.', but instead I respond with. "Sure," And we leave, me trusting him with all the trust I could give anyone.


	7. Flashlights

A/N: Sorry I took so long to update it! I was just really busy! I hope you can forgive me! So, this is probably my favorite chapter yet. We will be learning about another important character that hasn't even been mentioned yet. I think you know who! I hope you are satisfied with this chapter, and the next one will be very intense.

Skylar's POV

"So, where are we going again?" I try one more time. We have only been walking for maybe two minutes, but it felt like an eternity. He looks at me, and smiles a dazzling smile; I forget to keep my feet from tangling.

Alex catches me, and helps me regain my balance. "I never told you where we're going in the first place. Is your memory really _that_ bad?" He jokes, and I glare.

We keep walking, me keeping my balance on the uneven trail that you could barely call a trail. The sun was almost setting, and I knew it was going to be a beautiful sunset. This couldn't get anymore corny.

After five minutes of comfortable silence, we get to a little clearing in the middle of the forest, and I could almost feel safe here, unlike the other parts of the forest where I could almost feel eyes on me.

Alex plops down on the grass, and I sit next to him. You could see the sunset perfectly. He was good.

"I thought we were supposed to be going on a walk." I accuse him, trying to make small talk. I didn't really want to discuss feelings and other girly stuff with him.

"We did. And now we're sitting. Now that we've covered the obvious, what do you want to do?" He asks in a care free tone, which is the exact opposite of what I'm feeling.

"Can we watch the sunset?" I ask, my voice wavers. There were at least a hundred other things I want to do than watch the sunset. We both stare at the sky, and the sun was starting to set. I lay down, and he followed suit, his eyes never leaving the sky above us. It was turning brilliant shades of orange, pink, and purple. It was beautiful.

Alex quickly grabs my hand from where it was laying on the grass, and the wind whips at my hair. This was something to get nervous about. His palm is a little damp, and it comforts me. It lets me know that I'm not the only one nervous.

"So…it's a gorgeous sunset." I try to make conversation.

"The sky's beautiful." Alex comments and I can't help but blush. I know the comment isn't directed towards me, but that doesn't stop the blood rushing into my cheeks.

We watch the sun disappear over the horizon, and I get antsy.

"So, what are we going to do now?" I wonder aloud.

He smiles that blinding smile and I am breathless. "Whatever you want." I remind myself to breathe.

"We could go practice." I suggest, the only thing that comes to my mind that isn't out of the question.

"What?" He asks, confused.

"Practice our sword work. I could go easy on you like I do with September." I joke, mock punching him in the arm. I am such a guy!

"It's getting dark." He points out.

"Afraid I'm going to beat your sorry butt?" I taunt, standing up. He gets up, and I remember how much taller he is than me, and I think that good of an idea anymore. But hey, September beat me loads of times and she's at least six inches shorter than I am.

"Let's go." Alex grabs my hand again and we walk back to the path we were on, and I let him lead me out of the forest.

I tap my ring when we get to the practice fields, and walk a few steps away from him. He pulls out a mechanical pencil from his pocket and clicks it, as if to make lead come out, but instead it turns into a sword.

He's smiling at me, about to make the first move, when I suddenly blast him with a gush of air and disarm him and have my sword at his throat.

He laughs, and puts his hand on my hilt, lowering the deadly object.

"That was unfair." He accuses, but I just give him a teasing look. He lunges for me and I shot him a burst of cold air. He steps back, wiping his eyes.

"Would you mind not doing that?" He politely asks, and I know I can't say no. That would be rude.

"I guess…" I joke.

We get ready once more, and he makes the first move and I quickly escape his lunge and I do one of my more agile moves, but he already expects it, and turns around and lifts me up, _lifts me up._ Sure, he was probably a foot and a half taller than me, but seriously?

"Put me down!" I shriek. He puts me down, and with my clumsiness I fall into the grass, but not before Alex can take my hand and pull me towards him. I knew what was coming. I just didn't expect it to happen the way it did.

Alex was leaning in towards me, when suddenly I hear hooting and hollering coming towards us. It was dark, so I couldn't see it right away, but then I knew. It was Matthew Ross and his stupid friends. Running around with stupid outfits on and flashlights. They came running towards the battlegrounds, and when one of the moron's flashlights hit us, they came running towards Alex and I.

When Matthew saw us, our faces now a few feet apart, though moments ago they were inches. "Dude! I thought we were going to scare the councilors at the meeting tonight!" So, I guess Alex was friends with Matthew. When Matthew wasn't being a total moron, he was kind of funny, so I guess I shouldn't be mad about this. Wait, Alex and I aren't even official, so why does it matter if I like it or not? I'm getting paranoid.

Alex gave Matthew a look, and Matthew and his band of jerks went off to annoy some other demigods. I was still staring after them when Alex tilted my head up towards his and he planted his lips fiercely on my own.


	8. Locks and Riddles

A/N: I cried when I wrote this chapter. I knew it had to happen. So…what do you think? This is the last time it's Skylar's POV for about four chapters. So…yup.

Skylar's POV (last time)

"I told you not to kiss him!"Yumascreamed at me. I had just told them all of the details. For some reason, and I don't know if she knew I noticed I noticed, but I saw Melodie blush when I mentioned Matthew.

"Shut up," I grumble. They all forced me to tell them, and I mean forced. They locked me in Katie's cabin and told me they weren't letting me come out until I told them. I was outnumbered.

"What did he say _after_ he kissed you?" Stef asked.

I thought about it. "Well, I said 'We should get to our cabins. It's getting late' and he said okay, and that's when you captured me." I explained, glaring at each and every one of them.

"You two are such a cute couple!" Melodie squealed, and everyone bubbled. After a few seconds had passed, I heard a scream. Not a playful scream, but a bloody murder scream. And I knew exactly who it was. I got up and ran to the door, screaming at Katie to open the door.

Katie went to grab the keys, but Melodie's magic was faster, and the door was unlocked and opens in a second and a half. I ran as fast as I could into the direction of the shriek.

"September!" I hollered, trying to get a response. Yumaand Katie where right by my side, Melodie and Stefani close behind.

"Help me!" September Marie cried. I ran to the area in the forest the screams were coming from. I saw her crumpled on the ground, holding her left arm with her right hand.

"Oh my gods." I stop in my tracks trying to figure out what to do. "Go get Chiron and some Apollo kids." I tellYumaand Katie. I needed Stefani and Melodie.

"Show me your arm, September." I order, and she sprawls out, her arm really bloody and gross. "We're going to help you, September." I fought back tears in my eyes. I couldn't guess the amount of blood she had already lost.

"Help me, Stef." I pleaded, even though I knew Stefani wasn't a very good healer. I looked to Melodie, but she was already trying. She had her hands wrapped tightly around September Marie's arm, and she was murmuring words. September was still bawling.

"Who did this, September?" I asked her. Trying to think of something else. She looked at me with tears in her eyes.

"Caelan." She whispered, and I thought for a minute. She couldn't mean Caelan Drayne, one of the nicest kids to walk the Earth. He barely practiced because he doesn't like to think of actually hurting someone.

I heard people running, and I screamed for them. Katie got there first, and I looked behind her, and Chiron was there, with Rowan Lore, a daughter of Apollo, and Mick's best friend. She was a good healer. She went up to September Marie, and announced a challenge.

"We need to get her out of here. We need to get her to the infirmary." I looked at her with a hopeless expression. Hesitantly I took September's torso and Rowan took another part of her, and we carried her as fast as we could to the infirmary.

"I need gauze and some anesthesia. Rowan cleaned up the gashes, and I saw something.

"The marks spell something." I am shocked. Rowan cleaned the rest, and the whole message said _I'm coming._

Chiron came in, and read the message on September's arm, and his face turned pale. "Who did she say did this?" He asked.

"Caelan Drayne." I responded. His face somehow got more pale.

"He must've been possessed." He stated, and that made sense. September eyes suddenly closed and I could tell she was unconscious.

"Why don't you give her ambrosia?" I ask Rowan, who was trying to examine the wounds.

"She told us when she got her that she doesn't want to ever have it, for some odd reason." Rowan lifted up her arm, and my eyes almost popped off. There were at least ten more writings of _I'm coming_ on the bottom of September Marie's arm. And they were deep. At least an inch.

"That poor girl." Chiron muttered right before he went to gather all of the other good healers among the Apollo children.

I grabbed September's good hand, and started crying. She was like my little sister.

Chiron was quickly back with three other children of Apollo.

"Where are my friends?" I ask. They should be here with me.

"I told them to go to their cabins. They don't need to see this. You should probably go to your cabin, too." I vigorously shook my head, and he didn't argue the subject.

"Chiron," Rowan started, and I feared the worst, "we have to amputate. She wouldn't be able to use this arm if it did heal. Then the body wouldn't have to be weak trying to mend the marks." She looked at me, and I shuddered. September losing her left arm? That isn't supposed to happen. That shouldn't happen. She was so young. She's twelve. _Twelve_!

"If that's what's best. Skylar, you don't have to stay." Chiron gives me one more chance to leave, but I stay right there. He brings me a chair, and I sit down. I hold September's hand the whole time.


	9. Capture the Flag

A/N: This is Mick's POV, and I think I'll have 4 more chapters with his POV, then switch it up. What do you think? BTW, the movie Planet of the Apes, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, is awesome. I saw it at the drive in last night...but...anyway...what do you think of this chapter?

Micks's POV

One second I'm sleeping soundly, the next, I'm slapped in the face with a pillow.

"Mick! Wake up!" Jessica Martinez screamed at me. I opened my eyes and saw Lily hit Jess in the back with a pillow, and it caused a chain reaction. Almost every girl in the cabin got hit with a pillow, and it caused a massive pillow fight, eventually going outside. I got out of bed and stretched.

"C'mon Mick, it's capture the flag today." Kevin reminded me, and I quickly spilled on some jeans and a specially designed blue camp shirt.

I walk over to the Apollo cabin and knock three times. Rowan comes to the door, and I smile at her. We're about to leave when I spot Stefani out of the corner of my. We look at each other for a few moments before she breaks the stare. I always knew Stefani, with her black hair with golden specks, and her uniquely blue-green eyes. I talked to her a few times, and from the rare encounters, I discovered she had an Australian accent.

"What are you looking at, Mick?" Rowan asks.

"Nothing," I lie, and she believes me, and I wonder what's wrong. She always saw through my lies.

"What's wrong with you?" I ask her, and she looks at me with a guilty look.

"I did something awful last night." She begins, and I have an idea where this conversation is going. "I was just sitting around in the cabin, and Yuma Zuck and Katie Knapp came in and told me I needed to follow them, and I had instincts telling me to go. So I did. And…we went into the forest. And I saw that little girl, September, and she was injured. Badly." Rowan stops to take a breath, and I am waiting for the rest of the story.

"Her left arm had a bunch of scratches and gashes and marks. Melodie, the daughter of Hecate, was trying to use magic to help her, but it wasn't working. Stefani was in shock, and she's not a very good healer. Yumahad went to get Chiron, I guess, and then they were suddenly behind us. There was so much blood," She had tears in her eyes, and I gave her a hug, knowing it was the right thing to do.

"I told them we needed to get to the infirmary, so Skylar, who was also there, lifted up September, and we got her there. The trail of blood is probably still there. I was cleaning up her wounds, and Skylar said Caelan had done it, or at least, that's what September had told her. And when I was done cleaning, I saw the message, and so did Skylar and Chiron. It said _I'm coming_. Chiron said Caelan must've been possessed. Because Caelan's so nice, and he's right. And then I lifted up her arm, to examine it, and there were seven more writings of the message, much deeper. About an inch and a half each. I saw how many arteries were hit, and I knew she would never be able to use that arm again. So…" She took one more breath, "We amputated." Then Rowan burst into tears.

I told how it wasn't her fault, and that it was all okay, and September was still living and healthy, and she felt better. We made our way to breakfast, and I got waffles and some blueberries. I sat down at the Aphrodite table and dug in. Everyone was buzzing about some new couple. Until I heard the names Alex and Skylar, I didn't really care. But Skylar was Stefani's best friend, and Alex was new, so everybody knew about him.

"So, how'd you guys find out them?" I ask nonchalantly.

"Matthew Ross practically saw them kissing. It makes sense, though." Lily explained. I got back to eating my waffles. Across the room I saw Stefani staring at me, and for some reason, I blushed. A lot of girls stared at me, but Stefani was different. I didn't know how, she just was.

Chiron came in to the pavilion and told us to shut up. Well, he didn't say those exact words, but I could tell her was thinking it.

"Everyone meet up with your teams. Blue team, left side of the pavilion, red to the right. Blue team, your cabins are Athena, Aphrodite, Demeter, Hecate, Boreas, Apollo, and Hypnos. Red team, your cabins are Ares, Persephone, Hera, Hermes, Clio, Nike, and Hestia. Now, go meet up."

I go outside to the left side of the dining pavilion, and see Stefani staring at me again. I smile at her, and she blushes and looks down. Rowan comes to stand by me. I smile at her, too. I see Skylar approaching, and see bags under her eyes, and she looks washed out.

"Okay, are we all here?" Blair Nicole Athan asks. We all nod, not arguing with her assumption that she's captain. She's been my captain for capture the flag several times, and we've won every time.

"Okay, no arguing with your positions, alright? We don't have time. Mick, Stefani, and Jessica, your guarding the flag, okay?" We nod. "Skylar, Melodie, and Rowan, you're going to be the bread and butter of the operation. You have to try to be obvious, like your guarding the flag. Not on purpose stupid obviousness, but subtle yet obviousness." They nod.

"Athena's, you're going to set traps and diversions that will work, unlike what the Hermes cabin comes up with. Dean and I are going to look for the flag, along with Lily, Jeremy,Catherine,Georgia, Haley, Kevin, Bradley, and Cameron. We will pair up in twos. Dean and I, Lily and Catherine, Jeremy and Cameron, and Haley and Kevin. Got it?" They all nod, and I look at the remaining twelve people or so. "The rest of you are going to be spread out and camouflaged to attack if they get too close." We all nod, and run to the forest.

Blair puts the flag in a part of the forest I didn't know existed. No one was going to find it.

Stefani and I stand at the front, and Jessica stands in the back. We're alone, and when we hear the screams of the start of the game, we get excited.

"I don't think anyone's going to find our flag." I whisper to Stefani. She looks at me, surprised I'm talking to her.

"I think they'll find it quickly. I've been to this very spot at least four times." She informs me, and it makes me feel stupid.

"Oh, well, at least you're on our team, then." She blushes again and I look away. I hear the crackle of leaves and turn to the direction, and see Lily and Catherine.

"How the heck did we get here?" Lily asks, and I almost burst out laughing. They turn around, and then I hear another crackle behind me, and I turn, and see Alex Wood, the new guy. I immediately rush him, when he was marveling at himself that he found the flag. I'm on top of him, and holding my sword to his neck. I take out a blindfold and gag him with it, so he can't scream for everyone to come get the flag.

I tell Jessica to watch him, and she does so gladly. I go around to the back now, leaving Stefani to guard the front. We all wait in silence until we here shouts of victory, obviously not the red teams, since we still have our flag. I go over to Alex and un-gag him, shaking his hand, saying "Good game". He nods, and jogs back to where his flag is.

Jessica walks away, trying to get out of the forest. This leaves Stefani and I alone. I'm about to congratulate her, when I see Blair come through the thick brush.

"We won!" She exclaims.

"We know." Stefani answers.

"Did anyone come over here?" Blair asks.

"Alex Wood came over, but I gagged him, and let him go when we heard shouts of victory."

"Anyone else?" Blair looks at me expectantly.

"Well, Lily and Catherine came here by mistake. They must've gotten turned around." Stefani answers, and giggles. I am shocked by how cute her laugh sounds.

"Oh, well, congrats." She says, and leaves.

"So…" Stefani starts, but I interrupt her.

"Meet me here tomorrow, at one." I say, and she looks at me with a puzzled expression. Then she blushes, and I walk away.


	10. Colors

A/N: The chapter after this is going to be pretty awesome...and action-packed. Unfortunately, Chapter Eleven will be Mick's last narration. I'm not telling you who is going to narrate the next 5 or so chapters...but it's a girl. I don't really like narrating with a guy, no offense to Mick and his creator though. So...what do you think?

Mick's POV

"Mick, tell everybody that won't tell Chiron that we're having a midnight swim at the beach tonight. We found a dock and brought it out. It's going to be sick." Matthew Ross told me, and I was in.

"Sure, I'll be there." I tell him. It was already six, and dinner had already passed. I headed to the Apollo cabin and went inside. I saw Rowan and asked her to come outside.

"What?" She asks when we get outside.

"There's a midnight swim tonight at the beach. Tell all of your friends." I told her, and she looked excited.

"Okay," Rowan told me and went inside. I saw Stefani and motioned for her to come out. She looked behind her as if to look for someone else I was talking to. Then she pointed at herself, as if to say _me?_ I nodded and she came outside.

"There's a midnight swim tonight at the beach, and I was wondering if you wanted to go." I explain. She looks shocked.

"Wait, like, together?" She asks. Her eyes search my face for some sort of clue to what I mean.

"Well…" I had never been this nervous talking to a girl, since they practically throw themselves at me, but Stefani didn't. That's what made me interested. Odd how life plays out, isn't it?

"Yes?" She prompts, and my mind returns to the conversation.

"Oh, um…yeah." I answer. She looks at me with a surprised look I had never seen on a girl.

She just stares at me, and then smiles a sweet little smile. "Sure, wait, a midnight swim?" She had a worried look in her eyes.

"Yeah, why?" I ask her. Stefani looks at me, as if weighing her options.

"Oh…it's just …I um…don't like the dark." Her voice gets quieter until I can barely hear it.

"Oh, well…" I think for a moment. She looks at me expectantly.

"I guess I'll just have to ask another gorgeous girl." I flash my best smile, and she blushes.

"You'll be with me the whole time?" She checks.

"Of course." I confirm.

"Then I guess I'll go." She finally settles on, and goes back into her cabin, leaving me with a cocky grin on my face.

I saw Stefani leave her cabin and rush over to Skylar's, and I laughed a little.

LINE BREAK ~

I was making my way to the Apollo cabin, when I accidentally ran into Blair, who was holding hands with her 2 year boyfriend, Dean. She glared at me, but Dean just pulled her along.

I got to the Apollo cabin and just knocked twice. Grace Delilah came to the door, and I asked to see Stefani. She called for her, and Stefani came. I was just wearing my blue swim trunks, and a white tank top, but she had a towel slung over her shoulder, a cover up, and a one-piece black suit. Stefani was different from other girls I'd gone out with.

"Ready to go?" I ask, and she nods. I saw her friends behind us, at least 5 yards away, but I didn't comment. We got to the lake and she looked a little tense. I saw Skylar run up behind Alex, who was out on the edge of the dock, and push him in. He must've heard her, because he grabbed her hand before he fell off.

I started laughing, and Stefani stared at me like I was crazy.

"Do you want to get in now?" I ask her, pulling off my tank top.

"Umm, sure." She put down her towel and took off the cover up. I ran off to the dock, and she followed me.

"Do you want to jump first, or should I?" I ask her politely. I was going to splash her either way, might as well be courteous about it.

"Can we go in together?" She asks me nervously. I nod my head. She counts, "One, two, three." And I jump in, she's about to, but then she stops on the edge. She has a devious smile on her lips as I go under.

When I come up for air, I splash her with a giant gush of water. She giggles and crosses her arms.

"C'mon, just jump." I encourage.

"Let me think about it," She taps her foot as a joke, and I go under again, to get my hair wet.

"Take a deep breath and jump!" I coax, and she finally runs off the dock, but instead of jumping into the water, she does a perfect dive, making almost no splash.

She comes up for air, and I stare at her. "Where did you learn to do that?" I ask.

"I lived in Australia when I was little, and I loved the water. I used to surf a lot. Then my mom…" Her eyes were clouded from her remembering, and she ignored it. "So…what do you want to do?" She asks me.

"Do you want to go find your friends?" I ask her. I spot them in shallow water, and my legs were getting tired of treading water.

"I see them," She says, and I follow her to them.

"Hi, Mick." Melodie greets me with a devious smile.

"Hi Melodie." I greet her with the same enthusiasm.

"What are you guys doing?" I ask them.

"We were just thinking we should play colors…" Katie announced, and I was about to agree when a giant shadow loomed above us. If that thing wanted to play colors, when green was called, it was running.


	11. Switching Directions

A/N: Sorry this took so long. My mom's been in the hospital for the past week, so I didn't really have time. I'm also sorry this chapter is so short. I was going to make it longer, but I thought the ending really fit. Hope you like it. The next chapter will be up soon. Maybe today! :)

Mick's POV (last time)

The giant _thing_ stared down at the lake, and a cold shiver went down my spine.

"My dad is going to be pissed." Stefani muttered. "Get out your sword, Skylar." She ordered.

The monster looked like the dragons in children's books. "What is that thing?" I ask Stefani. She looked at me skeptically.

"It's Python. An earth dragon. My dad, Apollo, had slain it a _long_ time ago, but I guess he's back." She glared up at the monster, which was looking around at all of the demigods around, half of them not noticing the large, lethal thing right on the beach.

"Everyone get your weapons!" Stefani shouted, and everyone looked at her, then at the thing behind her.

The dragon mustn't have seen us before, because now it was looking directly at us.

"Yuma, why aren't you wearing your glasses?" Stefani whispers toYuma.

"I didn't think I would need them," She whispers back. I always saw Yuma with glasses, which went pretty well with her blue, white and green hair, and thought she needed them.

"Well…you need Jimmy!" Stefani whisper-screamed. Jimmy?

"Well…too bad." Yuma whispers back. Katie touched her ring, and Skylar did the same to her own, and the rings turned into swords.

Stefani took off the headband she was wearing and it turned into her bow and arrow.

Well, I was useless. I look around, and maybe twenty demigods have weapons. Which is only about half. Melodie didn't have her weapon, either.

"Everyone who doesn't have a weapon, distract it!" Stefani screamed, and she shot an arrow into the eye of the giant monster. Its roar was so loud I had to cover my ears, and then it was still too loud.

I got up out of the water and told Melodie and Yuma to get up, too. They did, and I told them the battle-plan.

"You," I pointed to Yuma, "Run around it going clockwise." She nodded and I moved on the Melodie. "You," I pointed to her, "Run around it counter-clockwise."

"Why the heck would I follow your instructions?" Melodie whispers at me.

I gave her my best pity look, and she blushed. "What will you be doing while we risk our lives?" She angrily asks.

I thought about it for a moment. "I'll switch directions every few seconds or so." I decided.

We approached the dragon, and Yuma took off first, running to the creature's left, and soon after Melodie started towards the massive animal's right.

I ran clockwise around the beast, and after I had counted fifteen seconds, I turned around. I heard the other campers charging the monster, and I stopped running, so did Yuma and Melodie.

The dragon was taken by surprise at all of the demigods, and roared a roar of fear. It back up and soon was flying in the air. What a coward.

Everyone started cheering, and I looked around. Was I the only one who wanted a fight? Stefani looked around, making sure everyone was okay.

Skylar ran into Alex's arms a few yards away, and I thought Stefani would do the same, but she simply resumed talking to Katie. Stefani was _nothing_ like the other girls I dated.


	12. Nerdy Bit

A/N: Sorry I said this chapter would be Maggie's POV, but I just decided to change it to Melodie…the POV will be Melodie's for the next three or four chapters or so. Next chapter she gets to know a certain son of Hermes ;)

Melodie's POV

After the gigantic creature left the lake, I turned to Yuma.

"What do you want to do?" I ask her. Stefani and Mick were talking, Skylar and Alex were laughing intimately, and Katie was racing a son of Ares around the lake.

Yuma looks around the lake, and spots something. "Follow me," She says before she dives into the water. I am right behind her, and she stops a few yards away from Matthew Ross. We are probably in the middle of the lake.

"What are we supposed to do here?" I whisper to Yuma, and she slyly smiles back.

"So…Matthew, what exactly are we supposed to do at this get together of yours?" Yuma asks with her nerdy voice. Of course, the nerd card. If you didn't know Yuma, you would think she was the geeky-est person ever, considering she's a daughter of the muse of _history_ and, luckily, Matthew didn't knowYuma at all.

"Well, you're supposed to mingle, have fun, and did I mention have fun?" He answered, and I knew exactly what she was going to say next.

"Can you define mingle? And fun? Because I think we have very different definitions." If onlyYumahad her glasses, it would make it even better.

"Uh…" Matthew paused, and Yuma seized the opportunity.

"Have you ever even picked up a dictionary? I doubt it, considering you're a Hermes kid." I was holding in my hysterics, but Yuma was just getting started. "Melodie, I don't even think Matthew here knows what the word 'define' means." She looked at me quickly, and so did Matthew, desperate for some sort of help.

"Matthew, could you define 'define' for us. We are so very much intrigued by your response."Yuma looked at him quizzically, and a small giggle burst through my lips.

He was silent, and so were his friends, all dumbfounded by Yuma's speech.

"Well, since you are pondering my question, I guess I will just be on my way. C'mon, Melodie." We were about to leave, when Matthew asks the strangest thing.

"Where are you going?" We stare back at him, and he's blushing like crazy.

"To our friends." I reply, and Yuma and I swim to Skylar, Alex, and Katie.

"Where were you guys?" Katie asks, and I'm about to tell them what happened, when Alex interrupted.

"I think I saw them flirting with Matthew Ross," He accuses, and I would've screamed at anyone else who said that, but Alex was different. When Skylar and him had declared there relationship, he somehow just seemed to fit into our group.

"No,Yuma was doing her nerdy bit to him, and it was hilarious." I insist.

"Where's Stefani?"Yuma asks.

"Mick and she are over by the dock. I think she's trying to teach him to dive." Skylar answers.

"So…what are we going to do now?" I ask everyone, and they all look as clueless as me.

"We could still play colors." Katie suggests again, but it seems pretty boring now.

"Attention!" We hear Matthew's voice through a megaphone. "We are going to have a few games going on now! Let's start out with," he pauses, "colors!" I groan, but then realize it's better than sitting around. Everyone starts swimming to the left side of the lake while Matthew shouts out the rules.

"When a color of your clothing, in this case swimsuit, is called, you swim to the other base, in this case, to make the game interesting, why don't we just have the dock be the other base, so you don't have to swim to back and forth a bunch of times." Matthew just easily cut the swimming length in half, so we only had to swim 150 feet.

"Myself, and my man Mick will be the taggers. Once we tag you, you're out." And with that the game began. I was wearing a mint green bikini to compliment my striking green eyes, and my long blond hair was pulled into a French braid, and I could see Skylar's bright red tank-ini below the clear water.

"YELLOW!" Matthew shouts, and about seven people start swimming. They tag three, and I see them swim to the shore.

"BLUE!" Mick yells, and I see Katie take off, along with Alex and around twenty other campers. I recognize Lucas Webber among them, and I wonder who invited him to the midnight swim.

This time they tag two people, which is really surprising, considering how many people went,

"PINK!" I see every single Aphrodite girl leave, and Blair Nicole Athan.

Mick and Matthew get around five people from the fifteen girls that left.

"BLACK!" Stefani leaves, and I know no one will tag her; she has to be one of the best swimmers here, since there are no Poseidon kids here.

Only two other people swim, and Mick and Matthew each tag one of them.

"PURPLE!"Yuma is the only one to start swimming, and she just starts swimming for the beach; she knows she has no chance being the only purple person.

"RED!" Mick shouts, and Skylar leaves along with around four other people. They get them all, so Skylar is out.

"GREEN!" I finally hear my color, and start swimming. Only Rowan Lore is swimming with me, and I see Mick go after her, so Matthew starts swimming for me. I start swimming faster towards the dock, and it's only around fifty feet away when he reaches me. He's about to tag me, but then swims away. I have no idea what just happened, but I resume swimming towards the dock, and when I reach it, I don't play anymore, but I am focused enough to see Stefani win.


	13. Requests

A/N: So, this is just a sweet chapter, and the next chapter will be narrated my Melodie, and the one after…will be….drumroll! SKYLAR! Yay!

Melodie's POV

I was sitting alone, yet again, at the Hecate table, eating my ham and cheese omelet, when there's a tap on my shoulder.

I turn around, and I find Matthew Ross standing about two feet away.

"What do you want?" I ask, annoyed with him interrupting my breakfast.

"Umm," This was the first time I saw Matthew nervous. It was hilarious.

"Yes?" I ask him in that fake sweet tone. He puts his hand behind his neck, and I can tell he's trying to figure out how to say something.

He pauses for another moment, and speaks slowly, "I was wondering if-," Alex cuts him off right before he was about to finish, and I curse at Alex under my breath.

"Hey Matt, do you want to come with me to ask Chiron about the, um, idea?" Alex was acting suspicious, yet it was still the nervous-cute kind of suspicious.

"No, I'll catch up with you later." Matthew waves him off. Alex leaves, and I wonder where Skylar is.

"So, you were saying…" I remind him, and Matthew's eyes lock on to mine.

"I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for me." I was a little disappointed inside, but I nodded anyway.

There was no one left in the dining pavilion, so Matthew sits down next to me. I scoot an inch or so away; he's been known to pickpocket.

"There's this girl, and she's really pretty, and I really like her, but I barely know her. What do you think I should do?" He gives me a half smile and I blush.

"I think you should get to know her, so you're sure you really like her." I answer, looking at my feet so I don't have to look into his eyes when I answer honestly.

"How would you suggest I get to know her better?" Matthew's dark brown hair falls into his eyes, but he doesn't fix it.

"I think you should talk to her and learn more about her, what she likes, and stuff like that." I look into his deep blue eyes while saying this.

"So…what do you like?" He asks me, my whole face is blushing. I turn away, trying to cool down my emotions. I barely know Matthew Ross, yet somehow I can't help the feeling that he just gets me.

"Uh, why do you care?" I try to act dumb, so I don't have to answer.

"I think we both know who I was talking about." He answers.

"But I don't even know you," I point out.

"That's why I want to get to know you."

"You think it's that easy?"

"You told me it was a minute ago."

"Those were the basics."

Our faces are getting closer with every comment, and I just now notice this. I pull my face back, and look at him with an annoyed glare.

"So, what exactly am I supposed to do?" Matthew finally asks.

"Be my friend first." I get up and leave, leaving Matthew behind.

I head towards my cabin, and once I get there, take out my magically hidden laptop.

I'm about to go onto my favorite website, when I see a friend request on facebook, which is my homepage. I click on it to see who sent the request, and see that it's Matthew. I giggle a little bit. That wasn't what I meant by being my friend, but it was a start.


	14. TipToes

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, guys. I started writing, thought it wasn't good, so I started over, and then I started over again. When I finally have it perfect, my computer crashes and the one time the auto save doesn't work….is now. So I tried to glue it all back together….hope you like it. Oh yeah, and sorry about the bad ending….it needed to end somewhere….and I didn't want a super long chapter, I'm amping up for the next one :D

Skylar's POV

I feel bad for Yuma. I would say I feel bad for Katie, too, but honestly? Katie really doesn't want a boyfriend. But Yuma, she is probably jealous, and I don't blame her, of all the rest of us.

I have Alex, Stefani has Mick, who, by the way, and the cutest couple in the history of the planet and Melodie has, or soon will have, Matthew. Yuma is okay on the outside, but I can read my friend, and it's clear she's feeling left out.

That is why we are having a slumber party tonight. We invited September and Maggie, too, I figured they needed some fun. They gladly accepted the invitation.

I'm helping Melodie set up the cabin when Yuma and Stefani barge in, and Yuma is struggling with three giant bottles of Dr. Pepper. I take them from her. I notice Stefani is carrying gummy worms, and I instantly start laughing. She looks at me funny, and so does Melodie, until she sees the gummy worms.

"Is everyone ready to party?" Katie screams as she rushes in the door carrying a microwaved popcorn bag. She plops down on the second air-mattress to the right. I had just got done blowing up the fifth one before everyone came.

"I'll party once you give me those gummy worms!" Melodie screams as she literally dives for the gummy worms, ripping them right out of Stefani's hands. She lands out the first air-mattress to the right, and I am almost on the ground laughing.

We all get situated on the inflatable beds, Melodie on the first air-mattress, Katie on the second, Yuma on the third, Stefani and I on the fourth, and we left the fifth one alone for September and Maggie.

We're waiting for the other two girls to join us when we hear a tentative knock on the door. Yuma practically sprints the door before I can turn my head.

"Come on in, little ladies." Yuma says in a random western accent, and we're all giggling, even September.

I see they brought Pepsi and a big bag of Snickers. Yuma puts the Pepsi with the Dr. Pepper on the dresser, and Snickers on the bed with all the other edibles.

I quickly run and grab the bag of snickers, and run back to the mattress. Yuma grabs two bottles of Dr. Pepper, and I could just see the hyper fit it will give her. Maggie catches on and runs to the bed to grab the popcorn. Katie takes the Pepsi, and Stefani finishes everything off with the last Dr. Pepper, bringing it back to our mattress.

Katie has her thumb on the button to start 'Beastly' when there's a much bolder knock on the door. I am the first to get there, and I'm praying it's not Chiron.

I sneak a peek out the door, and see Alex, Matthew, and Mick outside. I motion for Stefani and Melodie to come outside. They do, and soon I'm shivering from the cold of the outdoors.

"What are you guys doing here?" Melodie asks as she tucks a piece of her honey blonde hair behind her ear.

"We came to say goodnight to you." Alex answers.

"Why?" I ask them.

Mick answers, though my question was directed towards Alex. "Because we don't want to be woken up in the middle of the night by you girls complaining about how much you miss us." He has this sarcastic smirk on his face while he's delivering the punch-line.

"Hasn't happened so far." Stefani retorts, and I can't help but think her and Mick's bickering is cute.

"Nice pajama's, by the way." Alex says, and I suddenly realize what I'm wearing; my pink hello kitty t-shirt and short pink shorts.

I roll my eyes.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Melodie looks at Matthew.

"Just wanted to talk to you." He answers. His words are smooth, but you can see he's nervous.

"And….?" Melodie crosses her arms and shifts her weight.

"Do you want to take a short walk with me?" He sees her look at me, and back at the cabin. "Just a few minutes, I promise."

She walks, and he follows.

"We better get going." Mick says.

"Shouldn't you wait for Matthew?" Stefani asks him, looking after the space where Melodie and Matthew disappeared.

"He'll catch up." Alex insists, he leans in to kiss my cheek, which is quite a challenge, considering our height difference. I stand on my tip-toes, and he leaves after our brief contact. I stare after him, and Mick does the same to Stefani.

Melodie comes back with Matthew, and I see their silhouettes holding hands, then letting go before they come into sight. I smile.

Matthew leaves quickly, and we all hurry inside, and turn on 'Beastly'.

The sleepover is fun, as they always are, and September Marie turns out to be quite the talker at night, and Maggie was hiding that she goes absolutely crazy after hours. It was a great night, but if I knew what was coming that next morning, I would've savored every moment a little bit more.


	15. Brave Face

A/N: This is not the last chapter! It is _almost_ the last chapter. I'm thinking one more and then an epilogue. But the story will be all Skylar's now. Oh, and by the way, I have a story on ficitonpress called 'Hurricane', in the supernatural section. I have the same username as on here.

Skylar's POV

I wake up to the sound of screaming. Not your run of the mill saw a spider scream, but bloody murder kind of scream. I bolt up, waking Stefani up. Everyone else is sitting up, all except September Marie, who is hiding under her blankets.

"What is that?" Melodie practically squeaks out. I shrug my shoulders, and then an idea pops into my mind.

"September, do you know what is going on?" Everyone's eyes are on her as her head slowly comes out from under the sheets.

"I think so." She slowly whispers. We stare at her before she starts speaking again. "You know how on my arm it said 'I'm coming'? Well, I'm pretty sure it's here." Her eyes rest on every one of us before she gets up.

"Well, we aren't going to let this thing have the element of surprise, are we?" She says, and we stand with her.

"September, are you sure you're up for this?" Maggie asks, motioning to where her arm should be.

"Are you kidding? I'm going to show this whatever it is who's boss around here. Payback time."

I smile, and we all run outside. We see almost every cabin standing outside their doors, unsure what to do. But September is. She starts walking fairly quickly towards the big house. We follow, and soon all the cabins are going following September Marie.

I see Alex somewhere behind us, and motion for him to come up to the front with us. He maneuvers his way to us, and grabs my hand.

"What is going on?" He asks as soon as our hands touch.

"We're pretty sure the thing that possessed Caelan is here or is at least coming." I answer right before September knocks on the door.

Chiron is right there, and starts talking before September has a chance to.

"I'm sure you all heard that blood curdling scream. I have sent some older campers to investigate, though I suggest you all prepare for battle. I will let you all know what is going on as soon as I do. Until then, stay safe." He runs off of the porch and into the forest without a backward glance.

"Okay, listen up; we need a battle plan, just in case something happens." Blair Nicole Athan is standing where Chiron was, and is trying to get everyone's attention.

"Who put you in charge?" An Ares boy argues at her from the back of the group.  
>"I did. If you have a problem with it, go search for this thing and die. Your choice." She shouts back.<p>

He shuts up after that, and she smiles to herself. You wouldn't guess that Blair is the leader type, being a daughter of Hypnos and all, but you couldn't find a more obnoxious, self centered person at camp, even in Ares.

"If you actually want to fight this thing, stay. If you're a coward, you can leave now." No one leaves, and she is satisfied. She starts putting up her wavy brown hair, while shouting at people to come closer.

"Okay, here is how it's going to work. When Chiron comes back, or the thing finds us, whichever comes first, we need to be ready. So, we need to work out a battle strategy." She pauses to look around. "September, do you remember anything, or anything you heard?" Blair looks, for the first time, sincere.

September seems uncomfortable talking about it, but she puts on a brave face. "Well, Caelan," Caelan Drayne looks down, and awkward, because he doesn't remember anything. "He kept talking about how the master would let him go if he hurt me, if he got the message to the camp. When he ran off, before I started screaming, I heard him talking to someone, then a hearty laugh. It sounded somewhat human. That is really all I can tell you about that night before I was overcome with pain."

She must be the bravest being on the planet.

"It sounds like a god, the whole laugh part. Or, maybe some sort of monster. Are you sure that's it?" Blair thinks out loud, and September Marie just nods her head.

"Well, either way they are going to have an army." She taps her foot, and Alex squeezes my hand, and I squeeze back. I look at him, and he whispers, "It'll be fine." And I believe him.

"Okay. Apollo cabin, you guard the camp, the perimeter, the cabins, the big house, everything." Stefani doesn't look scared, and I'm happy.

"Figure out how you're going to do it yourself, but Justin's in charge." I see the Apollo cabin get together to the side, and disperse jobs over the maybe fifty Apollo children.

"Okay, now, Hermes, start by setting traps. They can't hurt. Then when you're all done with that, join in with the Athena campers. Athena, you will be stationed in the northern and northwestern parts of the forest. Choose your strategy, and let the Hermes cabin know."

Hermes goes off discussing deadly traps and fatal explosions, while the Athena cabin forms a group talking about the best tactics for the situation.

"Persephone and Demeter children, you will take the southwestern area, in other words the densest part of the woods. Use your powers to your advantage." The two cabins head inside the house, all the while some shouting 'I can make grass sprout up,' or 'I can make trees fall over by looking at them' and stuff like that.

"Ares cabin, you will take the western area of the forest. I'm sure you will be aggressive, but also be secretive." The Ares cabin hoots and hollers while running to their cabin to go over strategies.

"Aphrodite and Dionysus, you have the southern part of the woods, and no fighting! We need to win this together, not lose apart. Now start planning." Blair points over to the practice field and the two cabins start that way.

"Big Three, Hera, and Hephaestus take the northeast. Jamie, there are some streams and ponds in that area. Use it!" Jamie Kalahen, daughter of Poseidon, looks thrilled. I say goodbye to Alex with a quick kiss on the cheek, and he walks off with his group.

Suddenly there is a ruffle in the trees behind the big house, and we all tense. I get my weapon out along with around seventy other campers.

When the girls in silver parkas and gray jeans came walking towards the group, we all let out a great sigh of relief.

I was excited to see the Hunters, I've only seen them once in my life, and they're so determined and strong.

"We don't want to be left out of this!" One of the girls said, and we all laughed.

"Thank gods!" Blair exclaims, and directs them to the group of us getting smaller and smaller.

"Okay, now, Hunters, take the eastern area of the forest, we know you won't have trouble with that. And all of the minor gods, including my own cabin, can take the southeastern wing. All except she looks around, and her eyes find my own, "All except Boreas." I knew Blair didn't like me, but really? Well, at least it was an opportunity to get to know the hunters better.

Blair goes off with Melodie, Katie, and Yuma. I head off to the Hunters, and they all seem really friendly.

"Are you the only Boreas demigod?" A girl with light brown hair asks as she shakes my hand.

"Yeah, I'm Skylar, and you are?" I ask as I drop her hand.

"Oh, I'm Callie; it's nice to meet you." There aren't many hunters there, only around ten. The ones my age are Kaily, Samantha, Callie, and Justine. They're all nice, and start planning after we get acquainted.

"I say we have Lilly and Nikki over by that weirdly shaped rock by the giant tree, you all know where it is, the one that looks like a pen. It's a great place for an ambush or surprise attack." Callie instructs, and it's easy to tell she's the leader of this group.

"What are your strengths, Skylar?" Samantha asks while tucking part of her short black hair behind her ear.

"Well, I like swordplay, I'm pretty good at it, really, and I am a pretty fast runner." I answer as quickly as I can. I don't want to appear weak.

"I think you and I should be lookouts. We'll take the inner part. Jasmine, Kaily, Riley, and Justine, you guys all mount the trees, taking down anyone walking by, but make sure they're not on our side." We all nod, but there are still four girls without positions.

"Samantha and Penny, you guys can both try to figure out what is actually happening, and Allie, you can also mount the trees. Questions?" Everyone shakes there head, and now everyone's waiting for Chiron, waiting for the battle.


	16. Pressure

A/N: I am so sorry for the wait! I wrote the full thing out, and then my computer crashed, so it didn't save. Then, I was just an idiot and decided not to save. So, this is the third time. Okay, anyway, this is the last real chapter. *tearing up* There will be an epilogue, but this is the REAL last chapter. But still read the epilogue!

Skylar's POV

"Chiron's coming!" Blair exclaimed, and hurried off the porch.

Chiron came running up and on to the porch, out of breath.

"There is something out there. Something larger than I thought would bother us. We need a battle plan." He looked amongst us, and Blair got back on the porch as quickly as she got off.

"We already made one." She smugly told him, and he looked fairly impressed. She used the term 'we' loosely.

"Well, it seems the hunters have joined us on this important day." He smiles kindly as he spots the group of girls.

"Everyone get into their regions. NOW!" Blair screamed, and everyone hustled to get to their parts of the forest.

Jasmine suddenly scales a tree, and from nearly the top, looks down and playfully winks.

The other girls run off to get in a good position.

Its just Callie and I left, and I decide to make conversation.

"I thought the campers had at least thirty girls. You guys have, like, ten." I said, and she laughed.

"We have twenty-six total girls in the Hunters. But, not everyone wanted to come." Callie replied, nonchalantly. But I could see in her piercing blue eyes that wasn't the whole story.

"Why did only certain people want to come? I mean, I thought the Hunters did everything together." That was what Chiron told me, that the Hunters were a unit, and spent, basically, all of their time together.

"We do almost everything together. Most of the time when we aren't together it's because a few girls might be helping out some demigods, but even that's rare." She paused, and I waited. "We are the only ones that are actually from Camp Halfblood. I am a daughter of Hecate." She informed me, and I quickly thought of Melodie. She was also a daughter of Hecate.

"Penny is a daughter of Demeter; Jasmine's a daughter of Athena, and so on. None of the none-godly girls wanted to come. They said they could handle it themselves, that the halfbloods would be just fine without us. We thought, well, the more the merrier!"

"Well, I'm glad some of you came. I don't think we could handle this if it wasn't for you guys." I admit, and she smiles fondly; in agreement.

"I don't know if we are making that big of a difference, but thank you. Anyway, what do you think is going on?" She changes the subject, and I'm glad. I didn't want to keep talking about how amazing the Hunters are.

"I honestly have no clue." I tell her, and I'm telling the truth.

"C'mon, the answer is right under your nose!" She exclaimed, and I thought for a moment.

"Well, it seems to be a god or goddess, because Chiron said it was something larger than he thought would bother us, and he wouldn't think a god would bother us, I mean, we are their children." I thought out loud, and Callie's eyes egged me on.

"Most of the gods are fairly friendly, unless someone finds out something about them they don't want people to know about. One of the more nasty when it comes to that is…" I trailed off. _Hera_. I finally got it, the plan.

Hera is supposed to be the goddess of family, togetherness, and marriage. She's not supposed to have any children. She's supposed to be totally faithful to Zeus. She made one mistake. 16 years ago, that cost her her reputation.

She's a goddess; she can't use the excuse that someone forced her. She could easily kill or badly injure any attacker. So now she is coming to destroy her one little mark on her permanent record. That one little mistake is Alex, and I need to warn him.

"We need to go, **now.**" Callie looks confused, and I can't blame her. She probably didn't even know there was a son of Hera at the camp.

"Alex is a son of Hera," We are jogging now, but I need to go faster. I break out into a full sprint. Callie keeps up just fine. "She is coming to destroy him, before she starts to get a bad reputation." I try to catch my breath, and fall on a root in the process. I tumble at least five feet.

"Well, then we better get going. If you're right, she's not going to even acknowledge anywhere but where he is. For all we know he could be in a tree right now, on watch." She explains, and we are running again.

The only thing going through my mind is Alex, and everything I have ever known about him, every time I have seen him, all the times I've been with him.

_Stop that_ I told myself. We were going to save him. We had to. We _had_ to.

I saw Alex in the distance; I knew it was him because he waved at me, probably unsure what I was doing.

I kept running, and when I reached him, I ran into his arms. He surprisingly caught me, and I quickly pulled away, looking him over.

"Are you alright, has she gotten here yet?" I asked frantically. He looked at me like I was a homeless person warning people about the aliens on Highway 17.

"Your mom; Hera, she wants to kill you." I inform him, and he looks skeptical. Then, I see his mind working the same way mine did.

"Oh my gods," Was all he could say.

"Hera is the only god to have used mind control at all. She used it on Heracles, a long time ago." Callie quickly interjects, and I just nod.

"We need to get as many people guarding you as possible." I decide, and Callie runs back to get the Hunters. I hear Alex call for the campers in the area. I try to turn my head, but I'm stuck. I can't move my body. Alex calls me to come, he must've moved, but I can't even move my eyes.

"Skylar, come on, we're going to find a safer place." He comes to grab my hand, but he can't seem to move it either. "What's going on, Skylar?" He is very scared now.

"Something's wrong with Skylar!" He shouts to everyone, and they all come to figure out what the problem is.

Sadie, daughter of Hades, comes and pokes my arm, then my stomach. "She isn't frozen; she is still all squishy and soft." She confirms, and I can just imagine people quietly snickering at the squishy part. _Thanks, Sadie._

"Well, we have to move her to-," Alex was cut off by a sudden arrow flying down, and landing around a centimeter away from my foot. I would've screamed if I could move my mouth.

There was a piece of paper on the arrow, and Sadie picked it up. She read it, and her face turned paler than it already was.

"It says _my son is not safe, run demigods, fear me._" She read, and I was terrified.

"Well, if she's telling us to run, I don't think we should run." Sadie whispered.

"No, I'm pretty sure she is using reverse psychology." Callie is back with the Hunters, and they all nod.

"What?" Alex asks, and I would've laughed if I wasn't frozen.

"Okay, think of it this way. If you were supposed to do your homework, and your parents wanted you to, they would tell you not to do your homework, and you would do what they told you not to, because most of the time when people are told not to do something, they do it out of defiance. Like if I told to not turn around, chances are you would turn around." Callie tries to explain, but Alex is lost.

"So, if Hera says we should run, she's expecting us to not run. So, we should run." Lilly, one of the Hunters said, and Alex nodded. "Unless, she expects us to think that, so in that case we shouldn't." She second guesses herself, and everyone sighs. Except for me, I don't even know if I'm breathing.

"I think we should stay. I mean, Skylar can't move, so what's the point in moving her somewhere if we are unsure." Alex decides, and everyone mumbles an agreement.

He tries once more to move me, but with no luck yet again. Everyone starts to set up, and I hear laughing. Only, it's not near. It seems like it was higher up, as if its something flying that is making the noise.

"You fools! You all walked into my trap!" Hera was suddenly whispering in my ear. "Especially **you**." She walked towards Callie, but she raised her bow, and Hera just stopped.

"There is no need for weapons. I just came to get what was rightfully mine." The goddess says, and I tried to snicker, but I couldn't even manage that.

Hera looks at Alex, and grabs his arm. He shakes free of the grip, and moves further away from his 'mother'.

"Oh, so you want to do this the hard way? Okay, fine," She points at me and I can move again. I fall to the ground, and Callie is there, getting me up.

Alex and the rest of the group gather with us, while Hera is on the other side of the small clearing.

"Skylar, what do we need to do?" Sadie asks me, and I just shrug. The person they should be asking is Callie, but she's just pacing, a thinking look coming across her face.

Callie suddenly had an outburst of ideas, all in a whisper.

"We could send someone to every section and get everyone, or we could just try to scare her off, though that would be hard…or we could…" Her suggestions trailed off, but one caught my attention. "We could just let her come to us, you know, be defensive."

"Yes," Was all I said, and everyone just looked at me. "We should we defensive. Since we don't have superior numbers, since she'll probably just call in a bunch of monsters, if we aren't attacking, we are more prepared and just defend, not having to have the weaker team going after the strong side." After I said that, I realized how my explanation made no sense.

"I understand what you're saying," Callie surprisingly said, "so we should get into ranks, or something."

We had roughly 15 people. How fun.

"Okay, uh, Hunters, get a line, and demigods do the same." Everyone did so, and I set up the defensive line the best I could.

"If only we had cell phones, we could call everyone and tell them to get over here," Alex mumbled, and I giggled, because he was absolutely right.

"Oh, you thought this would be a battle?" Hera turned around, looking over our mediocre defense line. "Actually, I thought it would be much simpler than that." We all looked at each other, some shrugging, others frowning.

Suddenly Sadie was screaming and pointing behind me. I was still facing them, and not Hera. But Alex was. I looked behind me, and I saw him jumping in front of my back. He fell, and I immediately knelt down next to him.

Right away I saw the arrow half way through his chest. He had shaky breaths, wincing every time he exhaled. There was a stream of blood steadily coming out of the wound. There was soon a growing puddle of the liquid on the ground, and I was about to take out, or at least attempt, when Callie came up behind me, and softly grabbed my hand.

"You don't want to do that." She whispers. I then remembered from health class, back when I didn't know about being a demigod, that if you are stabbed with something don't take it out because it will just cause more damage and bleeding.

Callie reached in to her bag and produced a small wash cloth. It had a few blood stains. I looked at her, and she just shrugged. I pressed it around the arrow, but it wasn't any use. It was bleeding _so_ _much_.

"Alex, can you hear me?" I ask him.

"Duh, the arrow didn't hit my ear." He tried to smile, but he winced in the process.

"Are you dying?" I whispered. I looked at the arrow again; the cloth and my hand covering it up, and I put pressure on it again.

He just sighed.

That scared me more than a yes.

"Alex…" I trailed off, thinking about all of the time we'd spent together. I grabbed his hand, rubbing it tenderly. The girls didn't realize how much I like him. They thought he was a boyfriend. But he's not. He's _him_.

"I love you," He whispered so softly I almost didn't hear. I didn't even have to think before I responded.

"I love you, too. And I just want you to know, that even if you're-," I was cut off by a kiss. Not a quick peck, but one of those sappy movie kisses. He pulled away, and I noticed the strain on his face. It must've taken his last ounce of strength to do that.

"Alex," I was about to continue on about how much I care for him, and everything, but his hand went slack in mine. His eyes were closed, and the bleeding had pretty much stopped.

"No," I patted his head softly, trying to wake him up.

"No," I said more forceful than last time.

I heard a laugh, an evil, sinister laugh. I looked up, and she was standing there. Right next to her son. She murdered him.

"Oh, thank me that problems done and away with." She slapped her hard together as if to rub dirt off, like people do after hard work.

"What the heck?" I started, my hands balling up into fists as I get up. "He was your son! Some people have children by mistake, but they don't kill them! Even in the godly world! I mean, are you nuts? You killed an amazing person, all for what? A reputation? I mean, honestly, not having any children doesn't make you any better than other gods!" I screamed at her, and she just crosses her arms.

"Actually, it does." She snapped and disappeared.

I heard all of the other campers footstep's in the distance, and Callie called for them. Chiron was the first to arrive. He instantly knew what was going on.

"Get Alex to the infirmary right now." He says, and I just shake my head.

"It's too late." Sadie whispers, and a tear escapes my eye, and I just look down.

"Oh, I am so sorry Skylar." He turns around to everyone. "You may all go back to your cabins now. There is no longer a threat."

Campers start going back to camp, and I'm just standing there, and Melodie comes up to me, and gives me a hug. I return it and just rest my head on her shoulder for a minute.

Stefani joins in the embrace, and soon Katie, Yuma, and September, are there too, wrapping their arms around the growing huddle.

Callie stands next to the group, and I break from the bunch, and introduce Callie.

"Guys, this is Callie. She's a hunter, and is really nice, and I think you guys will like her." I say, and Melodie is the first to shake her hand.

They are looking each other in the eyes, while I look on from the side, and I notice their similarities. Callie was, maybe, an inch taller than Melodie, but they have the exact same shade of light green eyes. Their noses have almost the same ski-slope angle, and both have a bunch of freckles on their cheeks. The only very noticeable thing has their hair. Melodie has dirty blonde hair, in wavy locks, but Callie has very straight brown hair, pulled back into a ponytail.

"I'm Melodie; it is so nice to meet you." Melodie smiles nicely, and drops Callie's hand. Everyone does the same, and Callie returns the compliments.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Skylar." September Marie solemnly tells me, and I just nod. Callie notices the depressed look on my face, and paces again.

"Um, what is she doing?" Yuma whispers to me, and I just shrug.

"I have a proposition for you, Skylar." Callie announces, and I raise my eyebrows.

"So, Alex was your boyfriend, correct?" She starts, and I just sadly blush. "I thought so, and, you loved him." She states, and I just nod. If this wasn't serious, I would have denied it.

"Well, I was wondering if you would consider joining the Hunters." She gives me a moment to let it sink in, and a little part of me screams say yes! Soon, after I think about it for a little while, all of me want to say yes.

"You will be immortal, to an extent, and traveling with the Hunters, fighting evil, monsters, and everything in between, although there isn't much." She continues, "The only big rule is that, in simple words, no boys. You'll get used to it. Of course, at anytime if you find a boy you simply cannot live without, you can leave the Hunters and no longer be immortal. So, what do you say?"

I look at my friends, and they give me looks as if to say _whatever you want, we support you_. Yeah, we are pretty good with looks.

"I say, yes. I would love to be a Hunter of Artemis." I proudly reply. I look at my friends again, and they are all smiling.

I specifically look at Stefani when I say, "I guess I won't have to worry about those wrinkles." And everyone laughs.

When we get back to camp, Callie tells the rest of her Hunters, and they are all excited for me. I'm excited, too. I tell Chiron, and he announces it to everyone. I take the oath, and I officially become a Hunter.

I stay for Alex's funeral. I cry, but I know he died saving me, so he must want me to live my life to the fullest. That's what I'm going to do.


	17. The Most Amazing Epilogue Ever!  Maybe

A/N: Okay, this is the last _last_ chapter. It's the epilogue. I knew you'd all be wondering what happened to the characters. A few characters, though, will be coming back. I know, you're wondering, _What? Coming back? What ever does this Junebert person mean?_ Well, I will answer your most important question at the end of this chapter, or whatever you want to call it…oh right, it's an epilogue! Any who, I should probably get writing, but let me just say…I am sorry! I didn't want to kill Alex off, but, I mean, I couldn't kill Hera, and Hera's a witch (or whatever you would like to call her in your own minds) and she wouldn't not kill him…so…I didn't want to do it! The plot MADE ME! So, without further skadew, I would like to, uh, present? Present. I would like to present the epilogue of Changes.

Epilogue

My POV (That's right, this is an author Epilogue)

I know what you're all thinking. _That was such an unclear ending to this book! What happens to September? Or Yuma? Or Stefani and Mick?_ Well, I am going to explain that.

Camp has gone on as normal as it could after Alex and Skylar were gone. Everyone knew it had to happen, but they were still sad.

Sadie tried to contact her dad to figure out what happened to Alex, but with no luck. Everyone figured he went to Elysium, and probably chose to be born into a new life. But no one knew for sure.

Stefani and Mick are still going strong, and she and Rowan are becoming very good friends and half sisters. Mick is now the Aphrodite cabin representative, and they're all quite happy.

Caelan Drayne is still sorry about hurting September. Everyone sees a spark between them, but they're pretty blind to it. September Marie has a prosthetic arm, built by the Hephaestus cabin, and she is learning to use it, while also learning how to use a sword with her left arm. Dean continues to work with September Marie by helping her develop her powers. Yumareplaced Skylar in training September, and they have become good friends, they think of each other as sisters.

Blair has taken anger management classes, but they didn't really help. She and Dean are still smitten, though, and he looks past her bossiness.

Katie has been training harder than ever, trying to convince Chiron to give her a quest. She knows she is up to it, and doesn't think he can see it. But he can, he's just waiting for the right moment to give her one.

I think everyone knows what happened to Skylar, but, just to be clear, she joined the Hunters. She and Callie are good friends now, but she misses her old friends. She visits them as often as she can, but even often isn't often enough.

Matthew is still pranking people to his heart's desire, and Melodie sometimes joins in on the fun. They're still together, and very happy. Melodie misses Skylar, but isn't depressed, just sad.

The group is still together, mostly. They're missing their glue, but sometimes things just naturally stick together, like gum and hair, or those wrappers fruit snacks come in and, well, everything.

End A/N: Well, what did you think? I know, it isn't very interesting, but hey, it's an epilogue. So, anyway, about your question from up above…here is the big shocker! Drum roll, please! ! Ready? There is going to be a…SEQUEL! Yes, exciting, isn't it? Trust me, yes, trust a random person on the internet! Forget what your mother tells you! Well, anyway, trust me, it's going to be good! Well, be sure to **vote on the poll on my page**, about my stories and such, and…well…goodbye for now!


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